VVVVVV is beautiful

While exploring the open world of VVVVVV (pronounced like six V’s) searching every nook and cranny I stumbled across the first beautiful image in videogames for 2010. The world of VVVVVV is full of secrets and it pays to explore every inch of the space to find new teleporters and shiny trinkets to collect. But while stumbling across these little caverns I discovered something larger – a room so large that it takes up around 4 screens worth of space. And within this room lies a amazing Technicolor glowing elephant that fills up every corner of this space. The elephant doesn’t do anything except sit there and glow with a single tear in its eye. The character Captain Viridian like he does for most of the game silently walks by. Except the usual smile on his face switches out for the frown reserved typically for deaths and cinemas. It’s strangely eerie and unsettling as a brief staccato of surrealism within VVVVVV.

It’s a wonderful moment, but for better or for worse to it belies the true nature of VVVVVV. VVVVVV, the new game by Terry Cavanagh, is with no doubt the first great indie game of 2010. Taking inspiration from the ZX Spectrum and games like Jet Set Willy and Manic Miner, Mr. Cavanagh has crafted within VVVVVV one of the most punishing gaming experiences in recent memory.

VVVVVV is – for all intents and purposes – a gamer’s game. There’s a simple storyline where you learn that you play as Captain Viridian, leading his merry ship of other characters (all of which have names that start with V), when disaster strikes. An emergency teleporter is used, things go wrong, and before you know it you’re crash-landed on planet and needing to rescue all 6 of your crew. Your method of choice (and the only method of choice) is your ability to flip. The Captain doesn’t fly or jump or even skip across the world of VVVVVV. Instead by reversing his own gravity the ceilings become floors in VVVVVV and vice-versa. It’s a mechanic whose initial simplicity is deceiving as the game VVVVVV ruthlessly sets out to explore just about every permutation of this mechanic possible.

And that’s where VVVVVV really shines. While rescuing your compatriots across 5 different levels connected by an overworld Viridian never learns any new skills, never acquires any equipment or weapons or armor. What he was in the beginning is who he remains at the end. Instead Cavanagh in each different level sets out on exploring a variation of what is possible with the flip mechanic. In one level you may encounter tripwires that reverse your orientation without regards, in another you need to race against the scrolling screen as you traverse a tower. And in perhaps the most mind-bending of these you’ll need to wrap your head around a world where every room is a loop upon itself.

Each level in VVVVVV is subdivided into individual rooms each usually containing a puzzle or obstacle (although more complex puzzles can span multiple rooms). The puzzles grow quite devious over the 2-3 hours of gameplay, starting off simple and requiring little physical dexterity, but eventually in some cases become masochistic exercises of muscle memory. It’s all expertly done and outside of one or two puzzles which require an inordinate amount of trial-and-error never becomes about overcoming one’s frustration to complete the game. VVVVVV’s structure comes down to individual micro moments then. Each room has its own checkpoint where death is but a momentary delay from retrying the puzzle all over again. The game lays out it challenges in tiny morsels, easily consumable and perfect to minute breaks.

It’s perhaps due to these micro allotments of game where the only failings of VVVVVV emerge. Success is only momentary and while the challenge grows as the mechanics of flipping are explored the game lacks a tangible sense of progress beyond revealing the hidden corners of the map. When the game ends there’s no satisfying culmination of skills nor a narrative breakthrough, but merely an end because that’s all that was developed. Not that the game doesn’t fully explore the systems and mechanics, VVVVVV has a deft touch in exploring each concept without overstaying its welcome. But there’s a bit of the sense that closure is slightly fleeting in VVVVVV.

But regardless of the ending the journey is by itself an accomplishment. As each room unravels its secrets and each improvisation of the game mechanic is dealt with there’s no doubt that what the game has is a fountain of love and passion behind it. VVVVVV with its unusual title and contrary graphics and its punishing gameplay stands out like few other titles – pure and concise, clever and brief.

Note: For better or for worse the price tag for an indie game has yet again become a subject of discussion online. VVVVVV is currently being sold for $15, an amount that while certainly not cheap isn’t anywhere as exorbitant as some would lead you to believe. It matches well with the general prices indie games of similar size and scope are priced elsewhere (indie/mainstream favorite Braid was also initially 15 dollars) and while the initial playthrough is on the shorter end of things, there exist time trials and other modes to extend the length of the game. Ignoring the clinical comparison of metrics, the ratio of ingenuity per the time spent in-game is extraordinary and that alone makes VVVVVV worth the price of admission.


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